Share This Story!

Milestone: Boeing's 8,000th 737 goes to United Airlines

Boeing's popular Boeing 737 hit a major milestone last week when the U.S. jetmaker delivered its 8,000th 737 to United Airlines. The 737 has been the world's best-selling commercial aircraft in the history of

Tags

In case you missed this news from last week, Boeing's popular Boeing 737 hit a major milestone when the U.S. jetmaker delivered its 8,000th 737. United Airlines was the recipient of that milestone aircraft.

The 737 has been the world's best-selling aircraft in the history of commercial aviation, becoming the first model ever to top 8,000 deliveries, according to Boeing. The company says its 737 program "has a strong backlog with more than 3,700 airplanes on order, including 1,934 orders for the new 737 MAX."

Businessweek puts the delivery of the 8,000th 737 into perspective, writing:

"For an idea of just how popular the 737 is among airlines – several have built their entire business models around that one airplane – consider that Boeing's archrival, Airbus , finished its 8,000th overall plane in August."

Boeing made its first 737 flight in 1967, which Businessweek notes is "seven years before Airbus delivered its first airplane."

The News Tribune of Tacoma says Boeing is now producing 737s "at a record pace, 42 planes a month, at its Renton plant. And it plans to ramp that production pace to 47 aircraft monthly by 2017."

The News Tribune also notes Boeing nearly discontinued its 737 a few years after it was introduced because of weak sales.

Boeing's perseverance with its 737 has obviously paid off. But, despite the 737's venerable history, Airbus has become a fierce competitor in the narrowbody market via its A320 family of jets that directly compete with the 737.

Airbus delivered its 6,000th plane from its A320 family last year and has seen strong forward momentum for the aircraft.

On that note, the News Tribune writes "some aerospace analysts are predicting that the A320 may someday surpass the 737 in total orders unless Boeing begins selling its newest member of the 737 family, the 737 Max, at a quicker pace."

Meanwhile, back to Boeing's 737, the aircraft makes something of a full circle with the milestone delivery to United.

United was the first U.S. airline order Boeing's 737, with the airline taking delivery of more than 550 737s since the 1960s.

"We're thrilled to celebrate this huge achievement with Boeing," Ron Baur, United's VP–Fleet, says in the statement from Boeing. "The 737 has been an integral part of our narrowbody fleet and we are pleased to continue this tradition by being the North American launch customer for the new 737 MAX 9."

Then, in 2010, United and Continental announced their plans to merge. The 737 was a major staple of Continental's fleet, and the aircraft was subsequently reintroduced into the fleet of the "new" United as the carriers completed their merger integration.